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Tuesday, 9 December 2014

166) The
“25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin Series”: 2003 onwards (viii) minted by the Austrian
Mint by using Niobium and Niobium metal insertion technology for the first time
anywhere in the World of Numismatics:

Eighth
Coin in the Series: “Renewable Energy”” (2010):

Renewable
Energy:

Categories
of Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources:

There are nine major
categories of Energy resources, which fall into two categories – renewable
and non-renewable.

The Renewable
Energy Resources are replenished naturally and over relatively short
periods of time. These include – solar, wind, water or hydro, biomass,
biofuels, hydrogen derived renewable resources and geothermal resources.

On the other hand, Non-renewable Energy Resources
comes mainly from fossil fuels which include – coal, nuclear, oil and natural
gas which are available in limited supplies.

Since ancient times, humans
have been using renewable resources of energy, for ex., wood for cooking and
heating, wind and water for milling grain and solar energy for lighting fires.

About 200 years ago,
humans have created the technology to extract energy from ancient fossilized
remain of plants and animals. These super–rich, but, limited resources of
energy (coal, oil and natural gas) have quickly replaced wood, wind, solar and
water as the main sources of energy. Fossil fuels make up a large portion of
present day energy market although promising new renewable technologies are
emerging. However, fossil fuels contribute greatly to global climate change by
releasing carbon dioxide into the air when they are burned.

A world-wide hunt goes on
for new fossil reserves, nevertheless, scientists are looking for more
efficient ways to use the fuel which mankind already has. An even greater
challenge is the search for entirely different sources of energy which will be
needed to sustain the expanding populations and complex technologies of the
future.

With the world’s consumption of fuel energy
increasing at an astronomical rate , man is overtaxing the organic fuel
resources that he depends upon so heavily now – coal, petroleum, wood &
Agricultural waste etc. The use of these
fuels in the last century or so, almost quadrupled from the total used during
the preceding 2000 years.

For several reasons, from
the limited amount of fossil fuels available, to their effect on the
environment, there is an increased interest/awareness for using renewable forms
of energy.

While renewable energy
resource projects can be large scale, they are ideally suited to the rural
areas as well.

Since renewable energy
sources do not harm the environment and will not run out, there is an urgent
need to switch over to these resources. The catch – many of these resources are
currently expensive to harness and are inefficient. As such, there is an
increased focus on developing technologies to increase their efficiency.

b)
Climate Change and Global Warming:

Climate change and global
warning concerns, together with continuous depletion of non-renewable resources
have made it imperative that alternate renewable resources should be
increasingly used.

There is an urgent need to
use 100% renewable energy for electricity, transport, as well as, for the
primary energy requirements world-wide to combat the threat of global warming
and other ecological and economic concerns.

Over half the current
natural disasters in the World, particularly in the developing countries, are
on account of climate change. For example, the Himalayan glaciers, a source of
water to millions of people in India and China are fast disappearing, resulting
in an ecological imbalance.

It is estimated that if the nocturnal temperature
rises by 1 degree Centigrade in South East Asia, the rice yield will drop by at
least 10%. The emission of greenhouse gases by polluting power plants,
transport and industry are among the main contributors to the rapid warming of
the Earth.

The Arctic ice-cap is fast disappearing,
threatening the extinction of the wildlife there like, polar bears and penguins
etc. The only way to reduce the use of fossil fuels is to switch to renewable
energy resources.

In 1979, the First
World Climate Conference took place to discuss ways to address growing concerns
regarding Pollution levels affecting the ozone layer.

In 1988, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up.

In 1990, IPCC’s
first assessment report was released calling for a global Treaty on Climate
change.

In 1992, The UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was set up to strategise on
limiting “average global temperature increases” and “climate change”.

In 1994, the
Conference of Parties (COP) was set up.

In 1997, the Kyoto
Protocol bound developed countries to emission- cutting targets.

In 2005, the Kyoto
Protocol targets effectively came into force.

In 2014, SAARC
countries which are part of one or more negotiating groups under UNCCC have
come together to form pressure groups to represent SAARC in climate talks.

At the COP, under the
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), every country is required
to declare goals of adaptation and emission cut measures by 2015. India will
announce its INDCs in June 2015. India’s INDCs will have a commitment period of
15 years beyond 2020.

Also, every country has to announce its
peaking year. For example, Beijing has announced its peaking year as 2030 –
meaning that China’s emissions will start declining only after 2030.

Emissions
of Carbon Dioxide and other gases that trap solar heat and cause climate change
are continuing without significant change leading to increasing extreme weather
events such as cold spells, heat waves, floods, droughts etc. Scientists are
apprehensive that the situation will get worse if nothing is done to stop
runaway emissions. Every country agrees that global temperature should not be
allowed to to rise more than 2 degrees C above the pre-industrial average by
the year 2100. However, the emission rate shows little signs of abating and
this target now seems impossible to achieve. Countries keep debating on who
should cut down how much emission at every Conference, however each country is
concerned about striking a balance between their short-term National interest
and long term global interest. As a result, very little is achieved at these
Cimate Change conferences, while the planet’s eco-balance are getting alarmingly
strained.

Some
recent International disasters/extreme aberrations on account of climate change:

In India, the Uttarakhand
flash floods and Phailin supercyclone wrecked havoc of gigantic proportions. In
the first week of January 2013, New Delhi had a temperature of 1.9% C, the
lowest in 44 years.

In the USA, intense heat
wave struck, with temperatures in places like California reaching 50 degree C.
On 30.06.2014, the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 54 Degree C.
in California’s Death Valley. A state of Emergency was declared in New England
and New York in February 2014, when Winter Storm Nemo, a powerful blizzard hit
NE USA and parts of Canada causing heavy snowfall and hurricane-force winds.
Total snowfall in Boston reached 24.9 inches, fifth highest ever recorded in
the city.

The destruction caused by
the Tsunamis which hit Indonesia, Japan and the Eastern Coast of India is still
too well etched in public memory.

In Brazil, heavy rains
triggered floods & landslides in December 2013. The city of Aimores
received over 400% of its average December rainfall.

In Europe, extreme
flooding in Central Europe affecting Germany, Czech Republic, Austria,
Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Serbia etc. took place. For several
days in July temperatures soared over 40 degrees C. Australia too recorded the
warmest year while New Zealand faced its third hottest year since 1909.

In Russia, during August
2014, more than 140 towns were affected by the worst floods in 120 years.

Major
Renewable Energy Resources:

Solar
Energy:

As
fossil fuel supplies are dwindling, there is an increased interest in one of
the most readily available fuel sources of all: sunlight.

Delivered
in payloads of enormous magnitude, sunlight provides us every two days with
energy equal to all our remaining fossil-fuel reserves.
Nevertheless, to turn it into an effective power source, it needs to be
gathered and concentrated as in the case of solar furnaces.

“Solar Energy” or “energy from the sun” is
harnessed using solar collectors. This collected energy can be used to provide heat,
light or electricity. However, the technology needed to collect and use solar
energy is relatively expensive. Also, solar energy can be effectively collected
during the day when it is sunny. Solar energy is being used not only for solar
heating and in photovoltaics, but also as concentrated solar power, solar
architecture and artificial photosynthesis.

Solar technologies
can be active or passive – active solar technologies
generate solar thermal energy using solar collectors for heating and solar power
by converting sunlight into electricity either directly using photovoltaics
(PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power, while passive solar
techniques include, orienting a building or solar arrays towards the Sun.

Also, darkness and bad
weather can cause constant interruptions in the reception of the Sun’s regular
energy broadcast. For this reason, compact solar batteries work well in space
satellites where they are positioned to constantly face the Sun.

Some
Solar Energy driven uses:

a)Solar charging:

Mobile
phones can be charged using solar batteries which can also be used for TV
viewing, mobile banking etc.

b)Solar PV systems:

This
resource now provides electricity to millions of households. Today miro-hydro
power generation configured into mini-grids serves many households. Many
photovoltaic power stations have been built across the World. The Agua Caliente
Solar Project (USA), the Charanka Solar Park (India), Golmud Solar Park (China)
are some such examples. Photovoltaic power driven stations are very popular in
Germany and Italy. Many of these plants are integrated with agriculture and
some use tracking systems that follow the sun’s daily path across the sky to
generate more electricity than fixed-mounted systems. There are no fuel costs
or emissions during operation of the power stations.

c)Solar Home systems:

Solar
lightning, solar heating for heating homes, water etc.is slowly becoming the
norm. In India, using solar powered batteries/lights and for heating water etc.
is encouraged/incentivised by the municipalities who levy a lower Annual
Property Tax on Households using solar energy for household requirements.

Solar
hot water is used mostly in China which generates about 70% of its requirements
in this fashion.

In
many countries, these solar heating systems are installed in multi-family
apartment buildings.

d)Artificial Photosynthesis:

This
process uses techniques including nanotechnology to store solar electromagnetic
energy in chemical bonds by splitting water to produce hydrogen and then using
carbon dioxide to make methanol.

Molecular
variations of the photosynthesis process have been experimented upon that
utilise a wider region of the solar spectrum.

Wind
Energy: For centuries
windmills have been used to pump water from the ground. Presently, this
technology has been transformed into using tall aerodynamically built wind
turbines that use the wind to generate electricity. Many wind turbines
are generally placed together in wind farms which are being set up in
areas where winds are stronger and relatively more consistent, such as
off-shore and high altitude sites.

This technology does not
produce any waste or pollutants and takes little ground space.

However, wind turbines can disturb or kill
flying creatures, like birds. Also, wind is not reliable and constant
everywhere.

Globally,
the long-term technical potential of wind energy is assessed to be five times
the total present global energy production or about 40 times the current
electricity demand.

Water
or Hydro-power Energy: When water is used to generate
electricity it is called hydroelectric power or hydropower. As water is about
800 times denser than air, a moderate flow of water has the potential to
generate a considerable amount of water energy/ electricity. Most hydropower plants use a dam on a river
to create a reservoir to store water. As water is released from the reservoir,
it flows through a turbine and causes it to spin. This activates a generator
that produces electricity. Hydropower is relatively inexpensive and leaves no
harmful chemicals, however, dams can destroy habitats near rivers. Dams can
also prevent the migration of fish.

The largest such example
in the World is the “Three Gorges Dam” in China and a smaller example is the
“Akosombo Dam” in Ghana (which we saw during our visit to Ghana in February
2013). Presently, more than 150 countries are using hydro-electric power.

Tidal
Power Projects:

In 1930, Franklin
Roosevelt floated the idea of using water resources in Tidal Power Projects –
The tide wells in from the Sea and ebbs away in a 12 hour cycle, moving
millions of tons of water as it rises. The Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project
based on Roosevelt’s concept to generate about 3 billion kilowatt hours of
electricity in the 1930s was restarted in the 1970s. However the Tidal Power
Project lost out to political considerations leaving the project as one of the
“unfulfilled dreams of Tidal Power”.

On the other hand, in
France, the Tidal Power station, on the river Rance on the Brittany coast began
producing electrical power in 1966 and was the World’ first successful
tidal-powered electric plant, which is presently operated by “Electricite de France”. The recently set
up South Korean Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station is another such example of
harnessing tidal power successfully.

Mini-grids:

Decentralised renewable
energy power generation distributed through mini-grids, instead of traditional
grid-connected generation is an important contributor to solving the energy
access challenge. Mini-grids typically deliver electricity produced at a
centralised point through solar, wind or hydro or biomass gasification.

Geothermal
energy:

Geothermal energy is cost
effective, reliable, sustainable and environment friendly. It can be applied to
home heating, opening a potential for widespread exploitation. Geothermal wells
release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the Earth, but these emissions are
much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuels. Consequently, geothermal
energy has the potential to help mitigate global warming vis-a-vis fossil
fuels.

As long ago as 1904,
Italian engineers in Lardello, Tuscany happened upon a means of manufacturing
cheap electric power which remains a promising reserve of energy for the
future. The source of this energy was steam created deep underground by Earth
heat which gushes from specially drilled wells and is diverted to drive
turbo-generators. The Lardello Resource could produce over 2000 million
kilowatt hours of power a day – enough to operate Italy’s Railway system in the
1970s & 1980s. In Iceland, Earth steam was used to heat people’s homes, in
Kenya to hatch eggs and in New Zealand and California as a source of electric
power.

Geo-thermal power plants
have been set up in USA and Spain, with the largest being a power plant set up
in the Mohave Desert. The world’s largest geothermal power installation is “the
Geysers” in California.

Domestic
Biogas:

Domestic biogas provides a
sustainable way for individual households with livestock to reduce dependence
on firewood and expensive fossil fuels. A biogas digester converts the dung
into biogas that can be used for cooking and lighting. The slurry left over
from this process is also an excellent organic fertiliser that can be used to
improve crop yields. Domestic biogas has several benefits. People save time and
money by not collecting and cooking with firewood or burning charcoal, fossil
fuels and chemical fertilizers. This results in reduced deforestation and
greenhouse gas emissions as well as improved public health, as indoor air
pollution is a majpr cause of illness and fatalities.

Several people are exposed
to toxic fumes from cooking fuels and kerosene lanterns, resulting in chronic
eye and lung diseases, which can be avoided through cleaner fuels, efficient
cookstoves and solar energy based products.

Biogas can be used as a source of energy for
large scale businesses, especially where there is an available supply of waste
organic material for example, in a livestock operation or agricultural
business. The gas may be used to provide process heat or to generate electricity.

Clean
cookstoves:

Now a little less than
half the world population cook their food every day over an open fire or on a
crude cook stove using solid fuels like wood, coal, crop residue and animal
dung. A wider range of improved and energy efficient cookstoves, biomass
briquettes and biogas, with more efficient fuel usage and fewer emissions of
noxious fumes that cause air pollution have been devised, however their
efficiency rates, cleanliness and lifetimes vary as does their pricing. These
equipments are making a positive impact on the environment.

Ethanol:

Ethanol is a clean burning
fuel suitable for domestic cooking uses.

Brazil has one of the
largest renewable energy programmes in the World, involving production of
ethanol fuel from sugar-cane which now provides almost 20 % of the country’s
automotive fuel. Since the 1970s, Brazil has evolved an Ethanol Fuel Programme,
which has resulted in the country becoming the world’s second largest producer
of ethanol in the world. Brazil’s ethanol fuel programme uses modern equipment
and cheap sugarcane as feedstock and the residual cane-waste s used to produce
heat and power.

USA also uses a small percentage of ethanol
fuel.

Liquefied
Petroleum Gas:

Liquefied Petroleum Gas is
a clean burning fuel widely used for cooking in middle class households.

Biogas/Biomass/Biofuel/Transport
Fuels:

Biofuels:

Renewable biofuels are now
substituting oil consumption worldwide. The production of biofuels today is a
little over 5% of the world gasoline output and is steadily increasing.

Biofuels are derived from
plants and other organic wastes and can be used in mechanised milling and
small-scale electrification systems. They can be used in certain cases for
transport, reducing carbon emissions and have a significant potential as a
cost-effective option.

Millions of households are
using biogas made in house-hold-scale digesters for lighting and cooking
purposes. A new generation of more
efficient biomass cookstoves have provided households with a viable
alternative.

Biomass is biological
material derived from living or recently living organisms. It is most often
referred to plant-derived materials which are specifically called lingo-cellulosic
biomass. As an energy source, biomass can be used directly through combustion
to produce heat or indirectly after converting into different forms of biofuel
– thermal, chemical and biochemical. Wood is the largest biomass energy
resource today – tree stumps, branches, dead trees, etc.

Carbon-neutral
and negative fuels:

These are synthetic fuels,
including methane, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel or ammonia, which are
produced by hydrogenating waste carbon dioxide recycled from power plant
flue-gas emissions, recovered from automotive exhaust gas or derived from
carbonic acid in sea-water. These fuels are carbon neutral and do not result in
atmospheric pollution.

Synthetic fuels
consumption is subject to “carbon capture” at the flue or exhaust pipe, as
such, they result in negative carbon dioxide emission and net carbon dioxide
removal from the atmosphere, thus, they constitute a form of greenhouse gas
remediation. Such renewable fuels alleviate the costs and dependence on fossil
fuels.

There
is an interesting variation which we use in our Bird-watching trips in which we
go walking on foot to the birding areas, without using our vehicles, so as to
have zero pollution contribution on the entire trip, not to mention having a
healthy walk/excursion.

The
2010 “25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin”:

The
Commemorative coin titled “Renewable Energy”:

This coin has been
inspired by the living, breathing plant process.

On the Obverse of the coin, a tree has
been placed at the centre, representing all of Earth’s vegetation in the
Niobium core. The deeply rooted tree is a symbol of a healthy ecosystem.

A gust of breeze (the Element
of Wind) blows the tree’s leaves down to the ground in a spiral (the Element
of Earth). In the background of the tree is represented a stylized shining
Sun its rays/beams acting as the life-giving energy (the Element of Fire).
If one looks closely, the leaves of the tree seem to be shining in the
sun-light on the angles where the sunlight falls on them, leading to Oxygen generation
through the process of photosynthesis, which is essential for sustenance of
human life on Earth. On the lower periphery of the silver ring is depicted a stream
of water flowing/gushing in a torrent (the Element of Water). Thus the
imagery on this face reflects/completes the life-giving cycle/process of the
four elements – Earth, Wind, Fire and Water.

In the outer Silver ring is also, mentioned
the name of the country “Republik
Osterreich” (meaning the “Republic of Austria”) and the denomination of the
coin “25 Euro”. Also mentioned on the silver ring is the year of issue “2010”.

The
colour of the Niobium core on this coin is blue.

On the Reverse of the coin, all four elements
– i.e. Wind, Water, Earth and Fire which are also represented in the design on
this face of the coin, depicted by the contemporary modes of renewable energy
used to harness them. “Water” drives one type of turbine, “Wind” another, the
sun’s rays are captured by solar panels and geothermal heat sources in the
earth are recovered in the form of steam. The imagery is simply outstanding.
The Windmill spills over into the Silver ring on the upper left periphery, the
solar panels are completely engraved on the outer silver ring on the right
periphery. There is a source of water flow on the right hand periphery of the
silver ring with the flow of water driving the water turbine. On the left
periphery are depicted raindrops falling downwards shown by a down pointing
arrow and the water going up in steam represented by an upward pointing arrow,
again in the silver outer ring.

On the lower periphery is
mentioned in “ERNEUERBARE ENERGIE”
(meaning “Renewable Energy”).

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .